Shinnecock Hills plays host to the U.S. Open Championship this week.
Excitement continues to build ahead of the third major championship of 2026, with Scottie Scheffler set to attempt to complete the career Grand Slam at Shinnecock Hills.
Rory McIlroy will be gunning for his seventh major championship while the likes of Cam Young and Tommy Fleetwood will be chasing their first major title.
Who do you think is the world's most overrated golfer?
Many big names have problems winning consistently…
Shinnecock Hills is one of the most challenging courses on the U.S. Open rota.
The cumulative winning score over the past four editions of the U.S. Open held at Shinnecock Hills is four-under par, and that tells us all we need to know about the difficulty of the golf course.
Rory McIlroy has predicted that under-par will win the US Open this week, but with wind and rain forecast, that will take some doing.
The score a six-handicapper shot around Shinnecock ahead of the U.S. Open
If the best golfers in the world struggle to break par around Shinnecock Hills, we can only imagine how difficult the golf course must play for amateurs.
Erik Anders Lang – a content creator and founder of the Random Golf Club YouTube channel – was one of those lucky enough to play Shinnecock, alongside 70 other content creators.
Anders Lang has played Augusta National before, and posted a score of 83 from the members tees.
He also played from the members’ tees at Shinnecock just one month before the U.S. Open.
Anders Lang made eight bogeys, a single birdie, and nine pars in challenging conditions.
He ended up carding a score of seven-over par 77 – a fine effort for a six handicapper, even if it was from the members tees.
USGA playing it safe with Shinnecock Hills setup
Shinnecock Hills could prove to be a real challenge for the best players in the world this week.
However, the USGA have made a change to the golf course that will delight those in the field.
The fairways at Shinnecock Hills were already more than generous back in 2018. In fact, they were wider than the average PGA Tour course at 42 yards.
That is highly unusual for a US Open, but, as we all know, the golf course’s defence lies in its incredibly challenging greens.
There has been a change to the golf course this year, though, with the fairways even wider for the U.S. Open.
The average width of the fairways for the tournament this year will be 48 yards, and the longest hitters in the field will undoubtedly be licking their lips as a result.
Unless the wind blows consistently throughout the week, Rory McIlroy’s prediction of an under par winning score may well prove to be correct.
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